The draw was released for men's singles at Wimbledon 2017 on Friday. With that, an analysis is now possible regarding who received a good draw and who was a bit unlucky. In regard to third-seeded Roger Federer, he picked up a difficult first-round match but should he survive it then his path to the fourth round looks otherwise clear.
Federer plays Dolgopolov first off
Federer will face Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round, a player who has had a fairly-quiet career when it comes to the Grand Slams. Dolgopolov still has had just one good season in terms of Grand Slam success as he made the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open and the fourth round of the 2011 US Open.
However, he has not had that bad of a season in 2017. He won a title earlier this season with wins over Kei Nishikori and Pablo Carreno Busta. If Dolgopolov comes out strong at the All England Club, he could keep Federer on the court for a competitive match.
Surviving Dolgopolov, Federer's next opponents are a matter of conjecture. In the second round, he would face either Dusan Lajovic or Stefanos Tsitsipas. The two players combine for one career match win at Wimbledon over the years with the latter making his Grand Slam main-draw debut. Regardless of who Federer plays in a prospective second-round match, he should advance to the third round.
Mischa Zverev seeded near Federer
The seeded player near Federer in the 2017 Wimbledon draw is Mischa Zverev.
The veteran has enjoyed a resurgent season that has seen him make the Australian Open quarterfinals. When it comes to Wimbledon, he has been absent from the main draw since the 2011 tournament. Furthermore, he has not made the third round since way back in 2008. As far as seeded players go, he is one that you would want to face due to his limited experience and his limited success in best-of-five-set matches.
When it comes to the middle and late rounds, Federer might face either Grigor Dimitrov or John Isner in the fourth round. Certainly, either player would be dangerous, but Isner has only ever won one fourth-round match in a major. Dimitrov is a better player, but he has slumped since the early parts of the season. Federer shares a draw to the semifinals with Milos Raonic, the player that defeated the Swiss Maestro last year in the semifinals.
Lastly, Novak Djokovic is on Federer's half of the draw.
In the final analysis, it is a very soft draw for Federer. In the first round, the Swiss Maestro might have preferred to have picked up a Grand Slam rookie. However, Dolgopolov isn't a huge hurdle to clear based on how he has generally been playing in majors of late. The table is set for Federer to do some damage at Wimbledon with Grigor Dimitrov the player most likely to defeat the Swiss ahead of the late rounds.
